Laravel v7: Everything you need to know [New Features | Benefits | Roadmap | Upgrade Guide]

What are the features of Laravel Version 7?

Laravel v7 is loaded with several bug fixes, usability improvements and the introduction of numerous exciting features.
 

Laravel Airlock

With the new Airlock feature in Laravel v7, Single Page Applications, Mobile Apps, and token-based APIs get a featherweight authentication system. The Airlock feature allows each user of an application to generate multiple API tokens. The Airlock is useful for the effective creation and management of tokens.
 

Custom Eloquent Casts

Even though Laravel has a variety of built-in cast types, there will be occasional needs to define specific cast types. With the newly added Custom Eloquent Casts in Laravel v7, you can easily add custom casts.
 

Route Caching Speed Improvements

Laravel version 7 has made significant improvements in route caching speeds. With Laravel v7, even in large applications, there will be a 2x speed improvement than Laravel 6.
 

Blade Component Tags and Improvements

With Laravel version 7, the blade components now allow attribute management, component classes, inline view components, tag-based rendering, and so much more.
 

HTTP Client

To improve developer experience, Laravel v7 has an improved HTTP client. With the help of a minimal API, the functionalities of the Guzzle HTTP client is enhanced.
 

Improvements in Markdown Mail Templates

The default Markdown Mail template has an improved and fresh look, utilising Tailwind CSS colour palette. Further, this template can be easily customised and published as per the needs of your application.
 

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing Support

With Laravel v7, the framework supports first-party Cross-Origin Resource Sharing by integrating Laravel CORS package. The CORS uses additional HTTP headers to tell an application to access limited resources from another origin.
 

Improvements in Database Queue

The Laravel Framework version 7 uses MySQL 8+ as its database-backend queue, bringing in a significant improvement in performance. The database driver is now equipped to be safely used in high volume production applications.
 

All new Artisan Command

With Laravel v7, the framework includes a new Artisan command. The new command offers a beautiful UX and crucial information on the tests running. With the latest version of Laravel, the runner will automatically stop with the first test failure itself.
 

Multiple Mail Drivers

With Laravel v7, the configuration of multiple mailers for a single application is made possible. As each mailer, configured within an application, has unique options and transport, the application can send specific emails using different email services.

Apart from the above discussed, Laravel v7 has more new features and updates to offer:

• Fluent String Operations
• Route Model Binding Improvements
• Query Time Casts
• Stub Customisation

How can your business benefit from Laravel Version 7?

With the Laravel Framework Version 7, your business website is getting an overhaul it deserves. With witty advancements of integral features and addition of several other, Laravel v7 is aimed to improve both the users' as well as the developers' experience. Laravel v7 brings in several features that will amplify the developers' efforts in creating exceptional websites.
 

Better Security

Laravel being a PHP framework, is already capable of fighting commonly arising security issues such as SQL injection and Cross-Site Scripting. With the latest Laravel version, the security of the framework is getting reinforced a step further.
 

Improved Performance

With performance being an essential factor for many to choose Laravel, the Laravel v7 aims to set the benchmark even higher by making significant advancements in the route caching speeds. This improves a web application's caching speed, 2x times than the previous version.
 

Enhancements in Laravel Eloquent ORM

The Eloquent ORM makes it easier for developers to facilitate the interaction of an application with its database easily. It is a great programming technique to efficiently convert data between incompatible system types, making it simpler and faster for the developers to handle the database.
 

Future-ready Features

Laravel evolves continually with changes in industry trends and the introduction of new technologies. With frequent updates and an enthusiastic community of developers all around the globe, the Laravel Framework always stays ahead of its peers. For a business website, keeping up with the pace of technological changes is a basic necessity, and with Laravel v7, this is undoubtedly possible.
 

Multilingual

While extending your services to a broader audience, spread across diverse geographical locations, the business website must be multilingual for effective communication with your potential customers. With the Laravel Framework, facilitating your site as a multilingual website is effortless.
            

How to upgrade to Laravel version 7?

Even though Laravel v7 is not an LTS version, upgrading to it can bring in a significant boost in performance and functionalities.

Upgrading to Laravel version 7 is expected to take an average time of 15 minutes. To keep up with the updates of the framework's underlying software, the following steps as well are crucial:

• Upgrade Symfony to version 5.
• The minimum PHP version requirement is version 7.2.5.
• Update the Laravel Framework dependency to 7.0 in the composer.json file.
• The Blade::componentmethod has to be renamed to Blade::aliasComponent.
• For the Eloquent ORM, the addHidden and addVisible have been replaced with makeHidden and makeVisible  methods.
• Version 7 uses Carbon's toJSON method for date serialisation. To keep the previous behaviour, override  theserializeDatemethod.
• Upgrade the factory types feature to factory states.
• To use the getOriginal method for its previous functionalities, use getRawOriginal method instead.
• The resolveRouteBinding method now accepts a $field argument.
• The Zend Diactoros library is replaced by nyholm/psr7 Composer package.
• The mail configuration file has changed to include an array of mailers.
• The promotion Markdown mail component has been removed. It is now replaced by a fresh-looking mail component with a professional and appealing design.
• The deprecated --daemon flag on the queue:work command has been removed.
• The Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\Resource class has been removed and replaced by Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource instead.
• With the Laravel version 7, routes must be assigned with unique names as routes with duplicate names can cause unexpected behaviour.
• The CORS support is now integrated by default.
• The array session driver data is now steadfast for the current request.
• In Testing, The assertSee and assertDontSee assertions on the TestResponse class will now automatically escape values.
• In Validation, the different rule will now fail if one of the specified parameters is missing from the requests.

 

 

For detailed information regarding the upgrade, visit the Upgrade Guide in the Laravel Documentation